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Researchers: Type of leukemia develops in the womb
December 8, 1997
Web posted at: 9:36 p.m. EST (0236 GMT)(CNN) -- Nine-year-old Jeriana Staton was diagnosed with leukemia when she was 6. The first sign was the sharp bone pain she felt when she held her parents' hands.
Scientists are getting closer to finding out why children like Jeriana get the disease.
Reporting in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they say a type of leukemia called acute lymphoblastic leukemia -- the kind that Jeriana has -- starts during pregnancy.
Scientists think the cause might be environmental and are studying a list of chemicals.
"It includes things like benzene, like alcohol and some medicinal substances. So all of those are being interrogated in the context of pregnancy exposures," said Professor Mel Greaves of the Institute of Cancer Research in London.
Jeriana Staton He said the mutation isn't being inherited, so it "almost has to be within this short window between conception and birth."
"One might have guessed from the very young age of the children that something happened before birth," Greaves said.
Dr. Andrew Yeager of the Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta said the finding is important, but that more questions need to be answered.
"What it doesn't say is how far back before birth did this abnormality develop, and it doesn't address what caused this abnormality to develop in the first place," Yeager said.
Researchers say the finding doesn't mean that all babies should be routinely screened for leukemia. One reason is that the leukemia is very rare. And there is no evidence that early treatment would be beneficial.
Doctors have made great strides in treating and curing childhood leukemia. Today, almost 80 percent of children survive.
Anna Staton, Jeriana's mother, is confident her daughter will be cured in three years.
"It was really scary to think that your child has a form of cancer. It's like children don't get that," Staton said. "Yes they do."
Correspondent Rhonda Rowland contributed to this report
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Related sites:
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- Leukemia Society of America
- Pediatric Leukemias
- Important Leukemia Facts to Know
- MedicineNet - Leukemia
- National Academy of Sciences
- The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Online
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